Harbour

Councillor Derek Mitchell welcomed the arrival of the barge which will pile the steel poles to hold the marina pontoons in place. The pictures show it driving off the beach and onto the barge which has been pushed into place by motor boats. Piling will take most of March and the marina is planned to open in April.

Today Sisk announced that it has agreed with its partners Park Developments and their bankers NAMA that Sisk will take ownership and control of this project. Originally developed in partnership, the substantial structure has been completed and part opened to the public recently. The land side of the development has stalled with the financial crisis and with NAMA’s involvement.

Sispar and Wicklow County Council applied, in 2010, to increase the number of houses and apartments by 32, to change some apartments to houses and change the car parking arrangements, increasing them to 1,002 of which 316 would be public. Following an objection this has now been approved subject to deleting a few apartments and providing underground parking instead of the extra surface parking. ‘I welcome the decision as it removes uncertainty and helps to move the project forward. However I do not expect construction of the residential area to…

Sispar announced at Tuesdays meeting of Greystones Town Council that work on opening the marina has been held up by someone threatening to take an Injunction if work starts. It had been expected that the marina would open in early 2013 following the design and installation of pontoons. A packed meeting of people who wanted berths was held in March 2012 and a follow on meeting was due in May and this has now been postponed until the legal issues have been resolved. They have agreed to grass over most…

The fuss about the suggestion that the Council has agreed a 5 year delay to the completion date is not correct. PPP’s financed by the private sector all contain clauses to allow delay should there be ‘major change to the market’. If this was not the case then the private sector would not do them. The Council has not specifically agreed to any delay period but clearly the economic crash has produced ‘major change to the market’. The delay in the estimated completion dates in the Comptroller and Auditor General’s…

Sispar, who have developed Greystones Harbour, have written to the Town Council stating that they intend to complete the development. Other points in the letter include; · Funding is expected soon for the Medical Centre which has been delayed, as have many throughout Ireland. A commitment is given to grass the area if it does not proceed soon. · The hundreds of members of the local clubs that are now occupying their compounds will bring the harbour to life this Summer. · Safety bollards have been placed to separate people…

Mitchell welcomes Rowing Club compound ‘I am delighted to see the new facilities for the Rowing Club which they have been trying to get for 20 years. When to other 4 clubs move in there will be great action to the harbour for adults and juniors. In Ireland we have ignored the sea even though we are an island nation. This will change that in Greystones at least. It will also provide activity and interest for visitors and walkers’. Greystones Rowing Club gets great facilities The developers of Greystones Harbour,…

The harbour developers are asking anybody interested in a marina berth to a meeting in the Beach House on Wednesday the 14th March 7 pm. They will present a plan to put 56 berths in this Summer and will talk about the facilities to be provided if there are enough people who commit to using it and paying the fee! Anybody who may want a berth should come along. It is hoped that the Sea Scouts, Rowers, Anglers, Sailors and Divers will occupy their compounds in April. The Council is…

In spite of the protests of GUBOH the best way is to work on each of the issues to get completion. Their protests disguise the fact that we already have the best Community Harbour open in Ireland. Their demand to set an end of February is not sensible and will delay completion. I have spent 12 years pushing the project forward and at all times progress has been achieved by basing proposals on Engineering and Financial facts, not on dreams. In contrast the GUBOH people demanded that we built a…

Building the Coast Guard station at Greystones new harbour has been delayed 3 years by bureaucratic wrangling. On Monday the Minister of State for Finance, Brian Hayes T.D. met Greystones Town Council, Simon Harris, Andrew Doyle and Billy Timmins T.D’s at the harbour. He undertook to clear these issues and ensure that an invitation to Tender was issued in 2012, so that building would proceed in 2013 once the expected Coast Guard funding was in place. ‘I welcome the commitment to sorting this out; this will help in completing all…